Memo To Wanky Wonks: Politics Is A Contact Sport

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Other Politics
Posted on Thu Oct 08, 2009 at 07:29:21 AM EST
Tags: (all tags)

Share This: Digg!

I have always said politics is a dirty business and that among Democrats in the country, New Jersey Dems really understand this. At the beginning of this year, Jon Corzine was a dead man walking politically. The Republicans had identified an apparently unblemished former US Attorney with no prior record to be a small target and appeared poised to have the New Jersey Governor's race be a referendum on Corzine in a time of deep economic misery (plus Corzine was a Wall Street man, having made his fortune as the head of Goldman Sachs.)

For some wonks, Republicans, who have called Dems, traitors, godless, gay, race baited, lied, stolen and cheated in elections, are to be treated with kid gloves. But NJ Dems don't play that sh*t. Corzine has ripped the bark off of Chris Christie and now is in position to maybe win this thing. Matt Yglesias thinks the Corzine campaign is too mean and there will be a "backlash." Yeah, right. The GOP is going to whine about Corzine picking on Christie? Really? Yeah, that'll work. The good news is I am confident that Corzine's people know what to do down the stretch - continue to rip Christie a new one right up to election day. The political arena is not for the meek. Look at Creigh Deeds.

Speaking for me only

< The Federalist Option Gaining Steam? | Thursday Morning Open Thread >

Legal

Nothing on this site should be construed as legal advice. TalkLeft does not give legal advice.

TalkLeft is not responsible for and often disagrees with material posted in the comments section. Read at your own risk.

Memo To Wanky Wonks: Politics Is A Contact Sport | 18 comments (18 topical)

Readers Must Login or Create an Account to Comment

Too mean for New Jersey (5.00 / 3) (#4)
by Cream City on Thu Oct 08, 2009 at 08:38:55 AM EST

is just funny.

Heh. Dere ain't nuttin' too mean for (5.00 / 2) (#5)
by scribe on Thu Oct 08, 2009 at 09:08:14 AM EST

Noo Joysey.

For once, Politico got their lede right: Politics in New Jersey is about as subtle as a fist to the mouth.


Badabingo! :-) (none / 0) (#6)
by Cream City on Thu Oct 08, 2009 at 09:24:09 AM EST

Mmmm. You gotta watch this one. (none / 0) (#16)
by scribe on Thu Oct 08, 2009 at 12:32:34 PM EST

Christie, during the Rethug primary, sneers that early pre-k is the government paying for "babysitting".

Then, Corzine notes that Christie would shift money from public schools to private and that he called early pre-k "babysitting".

Christie, lamely, says "out of context". Then, when questioned about it directly, admits that, yes, he did say it, but that its being taken out of context.

Wham! TV ad. You gotta watch the one at the bottom of the linked page - at the end, the shot of Christie makes him look like the Stay-puft Marshmallow man.

See, even though Corzine came up through Goldman Sachs and entered political office pretty much at the top, he understands the Hudson County rules, which drive NJ Dems: full contact, no pads, no apologies.

You're a mayor who rides a bike and there's insurrection brewing in the city council? They'll steal your bike from the bike rack at City Hall, while you're in a meeting. Note that they cut the bike off the lock, and not the other way around.


: As to stealing the bike, someone (none / 0) (#18)
by scribe on Thu Oct 08, 2009 at 12:54:34 PM EST

noted:
"Leave the lock, take the bike.
"Leave the gun, take the cannolis."

Christie's self inflicted injuries (5.00 / 3) (#7)
by MO Blue on Thu Oct 08, 2009 at 09:30:09 AM EST

A Florida congresswoman who survived breast cancer said Wednesday that Chris Christie's support for legalizing insurance policies that do not cover mammograms or 48-hour hospital stays after childbirth would "take women back to the dark ages."
...
Wasserman Schultz also chided Christie for opposing paid family leave and for calling pre-kindergarten programs that Corzine expanded "baby-sitting."
...
"If Chris Christie becomes governor of New Jersey, he'd take women back to the dark ages with drive-through deliveries, [and] he'd squander the progress we've made on breast cancer," she said. Mandatory link for oculus

Not only women will come down on his head, this should bring out the breast cancer groups in force. Here in MO they are a very strong force.

Wasserman Schultz is good a turning a phrase.

Heh (5.00 / 2) (#8)
by Steve M on Thu Oct 08, 2009 at 09:41:57 AM EST

Some might call it naïveté, but I will more charitably term it "reasoning from first principles." Whatever the label, I hope Yglesias figures out sometime in his career of punditry that negative advertising works. In this case, Corzine hasn't gained any popularity from his ad campaign, but Christie has lost a ton. So to speak.

Pardon the pun (none / 0) (#10)
by Big Tent Democrat on Thu Oct 08, 2009 at 09:48:38 AM EST

Pundit.


In all honesty (none / 0) (#11)
by Steve M on Thu Oct 08, 2009 at 10:17:51 AM EST

I did not even think about that one before I typed it.


: It comes naturally to some people. (none / 0) (#15)
by oldpro on Thu Oct 08, 2009 at 12:31:33 PM EST

Pointers (5.00 / 1) (#9)
by mmc9431 on Thu Oct 08, 2009 at 09:44:23 AM EST

Maybe Corzine could lend a few of his people to Obama and the Democratic leadership. They could use a few pointers on how the game is played. We might even surprize ourselves and pass a few meaningful bills yet.

The "fat" ad isn't even the one (none / 0) (#1)
by andgarden on Thu Oct 08, 2009 at 08:03:56 AM EST

that did Christie in, though I think it's something of a masterpiece. Rather,it was apparently this ad that broke the horse's back. And then CorzineCo shoved Chirstie's response back in his face.

More generally ... (none / 0) (#2)
by Demi Moaned on Thu Oct 08, 2009 at 08:13:22 AM EST

see Digby's final post from last night:

However, the patented Republican hissy fit depends upon the asymmetrical application of fiery rhetoric and faux outrage when the other side does the same. And that assymetry has led to some disastrous consequences for the country, from the Impeachment to the Swift Boating to the General Betrayus condemnation, these things serve to cut off debate and require rigid conformity of thought and action. It's the use of political correctness (which in their case is anything connected to religion and the military) to create a controversy calling the opposition's fundamental character into question if they deign to oppose the prevailing conventional wisdom.
But the Democrats are starting to use this against the Republicans to good effect, which, hopefully, in the long term will make the Republican hissy fit obsolete. Just today, Debbie Wasserman Schultz did a great job on MSNBC in pointing out that the nasty Republican talking poinst about General McChrystal putting Nancy Pelosi "in her place" were sexist.

Entire post worth reading.

: Shultz's response seems to have (none / 0) (#3)
by ruffian on Thu Oct 08, 2009 at 08:31:39 AM EST

gotten right to the point. As Digby points out, the typical Dem response is to blather about some peripheral issue. They are forever hitting the nail off to the side and not on the head. That has made me crazy for years. If, in NJ and in FL they are starting to fight back in real language about the real point of the Republican attacks, it is a huge step forward.

its so true (none / 0) (#12)
by Capt Howdy on Thu Oct 08, 2009 at 10:31:14 AM EST

check this out:

Corzine Points a Spotlight at His Rival's Waistline

Article Tools Sponsored By
By DAVID M. HALBFINGER
Published: October 7, 2009

It is about as subtle as a playground taunt: a television ad for Gov. Jon S. Corzine shows his challenger, Christopher J. Christie, stepping out of an S.U.V. in extreme slow motion, his extra girth moving, just as slowly, in several different directions at once.

now watch the video

what a stupid way to start that article. yeah
he gets out of a van and jiggles. how could he not.
its hardly the point of the commercial

Can't we all just get along? (none / 0) (#14)
by vicndabx on Thu Oct 08, 2009 at 10:37:40 AM EST

vs. Reality. The same disease that afflicted the 08 election.

Amen. (none / 0) (#17)
by oldpro on Thu Oct 08, 2009 at 12:44:40 PM EST

Fifty-five years ago for me but you're ringing a lot of the same bells. Especially resonant: convincing (my ex) boss Majority Leader to take on a big parks issue. We, too, 'fought city hall' and won. Twice!

Thanks for sharing, Donald.

Aloha backatcha.

Indeed (none / 0) (#19)
by andgarden on Thu Oct 08, 2009 at 02:46:03 PM EST

SUSA has Christie up 3. And supposedly DCorps has Corzine up the same.